MaximumPC 2004 04

58 MAXIMUMPC APRIL 2004

MAKE TOSHIBA SHARP ABS PC ALIENWARE DELL VOODOO

Model Satellite P25-S609 Actius RD3D Mayhem G1 Area 51M XPS Envy M:855

CPU 3GHz P4C HT 2.8GHz P4B 3GHz P4C HT 3.2GHz P4EE HT 3.4GHz P4EE HT 2.2GHz Athlon 64 3400+

Chipset Intel 865 SiS 648 SiS 648FX SiS 648FX Intel 865 VIA K8T800

RAM 1GB DDR266 dual channel 512MB DDR266 single channel 1GB DDR333 single channel 1GB DDR400 single channel 1GB DDR400 dual channel 1GB DDR400 single channel

Graphics chip GeForce FX Go 5200 64MB GeForce4 Go 440 64MB Mobility Radeon 9600 128MB GeForce FX Go 5700 128MB Mobility Radeon 9700 128MB Mobility Radeon 9600 128MB

Graphics speed 200MHz core / 202MHz RAM 200MHz core / 202MHz RAM 351MHz core / 202MHz RAM 350MHz core / 200MHz RAM 445MHz core / 263MHz 366MHz core / 240MHz RAM

Hard drive 80GB Hitachi 5K80 5,400rpm 8MB buffer

60GB Fujitsu

MHT2060AT 4,200rpm

8MB buffer

80GB Hitachi 5K80

5,400rpm 8MB buffer

60GB Hitachi 7K60

Travelstar 7,200rpm

8MB buffer

60GB Hitachi 7K60

Travelstar 7,200rpm

8MB buffer

60GB Hitachi 7K60

Travelstar 7,200rpm 8MB

buffer

Optical

2x DVD-RAM, 1x DVD-R/

RW, 16x CD-R Matshita

DVD-RAM UJ-811

2x DVD-RAM, 1x

DVD-R/RW, 16x CD-R

Matshita DVD-RAM

UJ-811

2x DVD-RAM, 1x

DVD-R/RW, 16x CD-R

Matshita DVD-RAM

UJ-811

4x DVD+R, 2.4x

DVD+RW, 16x CD-R,

QSI SDW-041

4x DVD+R, 2.4x

DVD+RW, GCA-4040N

2x DVD-RAM, 1x DVD-

R/RW, 16x CD-R Matshita

DVD-RAM UJ-811

Screen size 17-inch 15-inch 15.5-inch 15.5-inch 15.5-inch 15-inch

Screen resolution 1440x900 1024x768 1280x800 1680x1050 1920x1200 1400x1050

I/O ports Four HS USB 2.0, 4-pin FireWire A, IrDA Four HS USB 2.0, 4-pin FireWire A Three HS USB 2.0, 4-pin FireWire A, IrDA Three HS USB 2.0, 4-pin FireWire A, IrDA Three HS USB 2.0, 4-pin FireWire A, IrDA Four HS USB 2.0, 4-pin FireWire A, IrDA

PC card Two CardBus One CardBus One CardBus One CardBus One CardBus One Card Bus

Other

VGA out, parallel, TV

out, headphone, mic,

line in, modem

VGA out, TV out, head-

phone, mic, modem,

floppy, CF, Memory

Stick, Smart Media,

SD slots

VGA out, TV out,

parallel, SD slot,

modem

VGA out, parallel,

SD, Memory Stick,

modem, mic, line

out/SPDIF, TV out,

dual infrared, remote,

custom backpack

VGA out, DVI out, TV

out, modem, mic, head-

phone, Bluetooth

VGA out, TV out, parallel,

line out, mic, Memory

Stick, Smart Media, SD,

custom backpack

Networking RealTek RTL8139 Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi A/B/G SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi B/G

RealTek RTL8169

Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-

Fi A/B/G

Dell/Broadcom 570X

Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi

A/B/G

VIA Fast Ethernet, Wi-Fi

B/G

Weight* 9.9 lbs. 10 lbs. 7.9 lbs. 8.9 lbs. 9.4 lbs. 8.5 lbs.

Price $2,800 $3,000 $2,100 $3,800 $4,130 $3,400

Prelim verdict 7 5 8 9 Kick Ass 10 Kick Ass 8

For our tests, we didn’t reach for the stan-

dard suite we use to measure notebook per-

formance. Instead, we tapped benchmarks

we normally use to test desktop systems.

After all, if these desktop replacement note-

books are truly powerful, they should be able

to run these tests, right? For applications,

we used Photoshop 7.0, Premiere Pro , and

MusicMatch. We also included Mathematica

5 , which debuted in our December three-

way between the P4, Athlon 64 FX, and G5.

(Because the Mathmatica 5 benchmark is

floating-point intensive, the Athlon 64 FX-51

kicked the tar out of both the P4 and Apple

G5 in that test.) To test system bandwidth,

we included SiSoft Sandra 2004’s synthetic

benchmark as well. For battery tests, we

used our standard DVD rundown—the

three-hour director’s cut of JFK —to test

each notebook’s staying power.

We did back off a notch in our gaming

tests, though, as even these notebooks can’t

hold a flame to a GeForce FX 5950 Ultra or

Radeon 9800XT desktop GPU. We ran Halo

and Jedi Academy at 1024x768 instead of

the 1280x1024 resolution we use to test

desktops. And we must note that there was

a slight hitch with the Area 51M’s GeForce

FX card that required us to update to the

latest version of Halo. Our desktop tests run

with the 1.02 version, but we used the 1.031

version this time around. For synthetic gam-

ing performance, we used the 2001 and 2003

versions of 3DMark. Adding yet another DX9

test, AquaMark 3 was introduced to the mix.

Finally, we also ran old stand-by HD Tach as

a way to measure the performance of the

notebooks’ hard drives.

How We Test Laptops

*Weights do not include power brick